Clay Puppington
Clayton Middleinitial Puppington is Orel's strict father who tries to keep his home in line with a 1950s style of living. This masks the fact that Clay is an abusive alcoholic who hates his job as mayor of Moralton, his marriage, and his father. History Personality Plot As a child, Clay was the only surviving child of his parents, as his mother's drinking, smoking and fun-loving lifestyle (including riding roller coasters, jumping on a trampoline, and horseback riding) caused her to miscarry ten of Clay's unborn siblings before he was born (largely because Clay's mother spent all of her pregnancy with Clay praying for his safety). Clay's mother was a religious zealot, who spoiled Clay rotten and instructed him in the various "lost commandments" of Moses. This created tension with Clay's father, who was outright neglected by his wife in favor of his son, to the point that he was forced to eat his son's leftovers. Clay's life collapsed however when he faked his own death as a prank on his mother, causing her to have a fatal heart attack. Clay's father (who was not deeply religious) never forgave Clay for his part in his mother's death and emotionally shunned his son, ultimately telling him that he's "not even worth it" upon an initial refrain from slapping him. This deeply affected Clay, causing him to seek out his father's abuse as a means to gain any sort of emotional response and validation. The two formed a causal hatred towards each other and blaming each other for the death of Clay's mother. His love for his mother would develop into an Oedipus Complex many years later, shown in "Nesting." His father gives his gun to Clay saying he is ending the male Puppington tradition of passing along the gun to one's first born son, because it is tainted with blood. Not wanting to feel responsible for his mother's death, Clay says he'll keep the tradition going only to fail terribly with Orel during the hunting trip. (Also, Clay took the gun away from Orel and give him another gun instead indicating he did not want Orel killing Bloberta) The trip was meant to have a father and son bonding rather than killing animals. Because of Orel's large love of animals, Clay drinks very heavily to suppress his anger (he even drinks a bottle of straight rubbing alcohol instead of using it on Orel's gunshot wound, which also occurred due to Clay's ingestion of whiskey). When Clay was in his early twenties, he was much similar to Orel, shown to be a rather mild figure who wanted to spend his days studying the Bible and drinking apple juice. While attending a wedding, Clay met Bloberta Hymentact. Bloberta asked about his family, Clay said "my parents are dead," not telling her the truth about his father Arthur being alive. The two went to the wedding reception together, where Bloberta introduced Clay to liquor. She believed that alcohol relaxed people for the better, and even used a religious justification ("Jesus drank") in order to get him to drink. Alcohol caused a massive switch in Clay's personality, turning him into a womanizer and drunken partier and ultimately caused Bloberta to punch him unconscious in order to keep him from flirting with other women. Afterwords, Bloberta lied to Clay, telling him that he passed out and that she looked after him while he was unconscious. She then pressed him to marry her, citing that he needs someone like her to "help" him. Clay agreed, but by this point the damage was done as Clay was now a full-blown alcoholic who spent most of his wedding flirting with other women, getting drunk, and ultimately getting arrested after the wedding for driving under the influence. Clay largely hates his family, not remembering his children's names or caring when one of his children (Shapey) is briefly switched with another child (Block). This is taken to an extreme in the episode "Numb" when he assumes Shapey and Block are a liquor-induced hallucination. He is rather misogynistic, believing that women differ from men in the ability to fulfill themselves solely through tending to their husbands. He later reviles that it sexually arouses him to watch her do such chores, ultimately leading him to partake in voyeuristic swinging housekeeping. He is close friends with Coach Daniel Stopframe, who secretly lusts after Clay. It has been shown that Stopframe is Clay's chief enabler as far as feeding his dependency on liquor and went as far as to seduce and impregnate Bloberta in order to be near him. He will often bring Orel into his study to discuss various misdeeds Orel often does after dealing out "a good belting" to the boy. The lessons usually have little to do with the actual damage he caused, usually focusing on "the lesser of two evils". For example, when confronting Orel for raising the dead, Clay is more concerned with the fact that Orel created naked zombies (by removing their clothes prior to resurrecting them) than for actually creating zombies. Also, when Orel develops an unintentional addiction to crack-cocaine, he is punished by Clay for speaking slang rather than smoking it. "Nesting" however, reveals that Orel has become completely indifferent to his fathers threats. He also has a collection of firearms in his study, including a Heckler & Koch PSG1 sniper rifle and what is revealed in "Nature Pt.1" to be an extensive arsenal. During a mostly unsuccessful camping trip with Orel, a drunk Clay rants violently about how awful his life is and then accidentally shoots Orel but denies any responsibility. He sinks even lower when, in "Honor", it is revealed that he continues to blame Orel for the injury, telling anyone who asked that it had happened because his son was either clumsy or had gotten in the way. While Clay tries to maintain the facade that his life is perfectly happy, he is ultimately a pathetic, cruel, self-pitying, misogynistic, emotionally immature and self-centered man who no longer cares for anyone but himself. He is ill-equipped to deal with life's problems and takes out his anger and frustration on his family, friends, and the town. He hates and fears the reality about his life and himself. He hates responsibility He mocks and ignores anyone who tells him he is wrong, including Orel and Bloberta. His adult life bears the fruits of his spoiled and unbalanced childhood. His marriage is a lie and everyone but Orel knows it. Clay often complains about his "stinking dead end job" and being "buried in paperwork". In the penultimate episode, it is revealed, even to Orel's surprise, that Clay is actually the Mayor of Moralton. On a document in his office his full name is shown to be Mayor Clayton Middleinitial Puppington. In "Honor" Clay finally (though indirectly) admits his feelings for Coach Stopframe, in front of his wife, and children. Stopframe, however, coldly refuses him, saying it is "too late" and Clay leaves dejected and defeated. A picture of him and Bloberta both frowning is seen on the wall in the final scene, a stark contrast to Orel and Christina. Clay ultimately pays the price for his cruelty and loveless life. The name "Puppington" could reference the fact that Clay's life is nothing more than acting like a "puppet." A puppet to the morals and values of Protestantism, his marriage and his job. Criminal Records Drunk Driving in the episode Help where Clay got drunk on his wedding. Hitting an old man with a car and fleeing from the secene "Hit and Run" Shooting Orel during a hunting trip and covering it up. Giving children alcohol Family and Relationships *'Angela Puppington' **She is Clay's mother. The two spent a lot of time together, and Clay was somewhat of a "mama's boy". One day when Clay was 12 he pretended to be dead and gave her a heart attack which killed her. Before she died, she would call Clay her "precious only ever". *'Bloberta Puppington' **She is Clay's wife. The two are in an unhappy unloving marriage. *'Coach Daniel Stopframe' **They are having an affair. Their relationship seems to be fairly sturdy. Daniel encourages Clay's drinking. They break up in "Honor" *'Orel Puppington' **He is Clay's only biological son. Because of his selfishness. Clay stop loving Orel. Clay even said, "I'm glad that I shot you." *'Shapey and Block' **It is implied that Clay can tell them apart and appears to be the only one who noticed they were switched but simply doesn't care sense neither of them is his real son, they are however so similar that when he saw them both at the same time in "Numb" he assumed it was double vision. He dislikes Shapey because he's not his real son and sometimes sits in his study looking at pictures of possible fathers. He usually just pushes them away from him or gives them something to play with so they'll leave him alone. *'Arthur Puppington' **Clay hates his father, because he blames him for the death of his mother. Arthur ended the male Puppington tradition, but Clay says he'll keep the tradition going only to go back on that promise with Orel. Appearances Season One Season Two Season Three Category:Male Characters Category:Adults Category:The Puppingtons Category:Characters